


Wonder By Wonder

by shinyjenni



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Community: fandom_stocking, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-09
Updated: 2010-01-09
Packaged: 2017-10-06 01:15:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinyjenni/pseuds/shinyjenni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Doctor asks her to go with him, Liz's first instinct is to refuse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wonder By Wonder

**Author's Note:**

  * For [walkthegale](https://archiveofourown.org/users/walkthegale/gifts).



> Written for carawj's fandom_stocking.

When the Doctor asks her to go with him, Liz's first instinct is to refuse. Her work is important, she explains (protests); she can't just dash off willy-nilly.

"Call yourself a scientist, Liz?" asks the Doctor "Where's your sense of exploration?"

Liz can feel her resolve weakening. How can she truly turn down the chance to walk on another world?

"Do come," adds his blonde companion, Jo. "We probably won't get to Metebelis 3, but I expect it'll be fun anyway!" The Doctor glares at her; she just smiles sweetly at him, and Liz finds herself smiling too.

**

"Is this Metebelis 3?" shouts Liz above the howling of the wind.

"No. No, it's not," replies the Doctor, distractedly, staring out at the snowy vista.

"Here you go." Jo pushes the twin of the enormous furry coat she's wearing into Liz's arms. "Found these in the wardrobe. Should keep us warm while we have a look around."

*

Looking around turns out not to have been the best idea.

*

"You know," gasps Jo as she and Liz pause at the top of the ridge to see how far behind their pursuers are, "if it wasn't for the angry mob, it would be quite a beautiful view."

"Come on!"

Jo laughs, Liz grabs her hand, and they're off again, slipping and sliding and running through the snow.

**

"Here we are," says the Doctor proudly. "Metebelis 3 may have been a washout, but I've brought you back home, Liz, just as I promised."

He pulls the lever that opens the doors and Liz runs to look. Seconds later, she's back and gesturing frantically for the Doctor to close the doors again.

"Not Earth?" asks Jo.

"Not Earth," confirms Liz. "Definitely not Earth. Things on Earth don't have that many teeth. Or tentacles." She shudders.

The Doctor harrumphs, and turns back to the console.

**

The next planet isn't Earth either, nor the next, nor the one after that. Liz doesn't mind nearly as much as she thought she would, and under all the Doctor's bluster, she can tell he's pleased too.

"I think the TARDIS doesn't want you to leave," says Jo, meeting Liz in the corridor. She touches the wall gently.

Liz raises a skeptical eyebrow. "It's not alive, Jo."

"Isn't it?" Jo asked. "Are you sure?" She grins at Liz, then disappears down the corridor.

Liz hesitates. She's never been sentimental about things, never anthropomorphised a recalcitrant bunsen burner nor mourned the breakage of a favourite test tube. And yet the Doctor's very existence has pushed the bounds of possibility beyond anything she's known before. Would a living ship really push them that much further?

Feeling a little silly, Liz reaches out and touches the wall, like Jo did. "Thank you," she murmurs.

**

"Are you two planning to drip mud all over my floors on a permanent basis?" asks the Doctor, a little huffily. He only had a few splashes of mud on his clothes, but then he'd been busy drinking tea with the mayor and her family, and hadn't fallen in a swamp (like Jo) or waded in to rescue her (like Liz).

Liz and Jo look at each other, find they have to admit that he's got a point, and head for their bedrooms.

*

Liz takes her time over her shower, and is just drying herself off when there's a knock at her door. She wraps herself in her towel and, somewhat self consciously, goes to open it.

"Hi!" says Jo, and then, "Oh, sorry. I can come back. I just wanted to say thank you again for fishing me out of that swamp."

"You're welcome," replies Liz, and then adds, "come in!"

Jo steps inside as Liz returns to her bathroom to get dressed. "Oooh, your room's lovely!" she breathes. "And much tidier than mine," she adds ruefully. "Apart from the books." She picks up a few of the many volumes scattered around the place and starts to read the backs.

"They're all from the library," replies Liz, drying her hair on a towel. "There's so much there, I can't seem to decide where to start." She sits down on her bed, turning a few books over helplessly. "I keep reading a little of one, a little of another, no coherence to it. And sometimes I think I'm cheating and just stop altogether."

Jo nods, coming to join her. "I even feel like that with the fiction sometimes," she confides. "Whenever I choose a book that's not going to be published until 2128, or was written on another planet, I feel a little like I'm doing something wrong. Actually, it's worse with more recent things. I just read something that's not going to be published until 1980. I could've just waited a few years!" She shrugs. "Never mind. It was good. I'll have to lend it to you." She looks sideways at Liz from beneath her eyelashes. "It looks like you might be here long enough to finish it."

Liz smiles. "I'm not sure I mind that as much as I thought I would."

Jo smiles back and Liz is just thinking that her smile seems somehow more shy than usual when suddenly Jo darts forward and kisses her. Liz, surprised, but not displeased, wraps her arms round the other woman and kisses her back.

When they part, Jo is grinning all over her face. "I was worried there for a moment that I'd got it all wrong…" she begins, but Liz puts a finger to her lips.

"How long do you think it will take the Doctor to miss us?" she asks.

"When we left him, he was tinkering away at the console. We could be gone for hours and he'd never notice."

"Hours?" asks Liz, a wicked gleam in her eyes. "I like the sound of that."

**

"Next time we get back to Earth, you're going to leave, aren't you?" asks Jo a few days later as she and Liz lie curled up together in Liz's bed.

Liz reaches out and tucks a wayward curl behind Jo's ear. "Yes," she admits. "These past few weeks… you… it's been wonderful. But my life is back on Earth. My work…"

Jo kisses her. "It's alright. Really! I understand. I just wanted to know, that's all." She snuggles closer, and closes her eyes. "It's all alright."


End file.
